"All hands abandon ship!":the sinking of the RMS Trent

November 7th, 1861: While en route from Cuba to France, the British steamer RMS Trent suffers a catastrophic fire in her boiler room, sinking her within a matter of hours.

Question #1: What could have sparked the fire?
Question #2: Does anyone on board(including Mason and Slidell) make it out alive?
Question #3: What impact does the sinking have on the course of the American Civil War?

Chris Oakley said:

November 7th, 1861: While en route from Cuba to France, the British steamer RMS Trent suffers a catastrophic fire in her boiler room, sinking her within a matter of hours.

Question #3: What impact does the sinking have on the course of the American Civil War?

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Based on Question #2, I am assuming that this happens before the ship in stopped by Captain Wilkes and the U.S.S. SAN JACINTO. Therefore the answer to question #3 is simple...no TRENT affair and no crisis between the U.S. and Britain over the seizure of the Confederate diplomats. Otherwise, it has very little effect, otherwise, on the course of the war, except possibly a positive one for the Confederacy...Mason and Slidell were not particularly effective diplomats, and there is a possibility that they may have been replaced by someone better. Or not. This assumes, of course, that the answer to question #2 was that the two diplomats were killed. If they were rescued, then no effect on the war at all.

Chris Oakley said:

November 7th, 1861: While en route from Cuba to France, the British steamer RMS Trent suffers a catastrophic fire in her boiler room, sinking her within a matter of hours.

Question #1: What could have sparked the fire?
Question #2: Does anyone on board(including Mason and Slidell) make it out alive?
Question #3: What impact does the sinking have on the course of the American Civil War?

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Q1 - ASBs, American agents, poor maintenance...?

Q2 - Yes/no/maybe

Q3 - Depends on the answers to questions 1 & 2 and how they are perceived. I.e., which I think sabotage unlikely if there was signs/rumours of it say that would probably be a lot more important than whether it actually occurred or not. Plus if anyone knows about the sinking and the Confederate representatives on board if say its lost with all hands.

Basically Chris I think we can't make any worthwhile estimations without knowing more about what your suggestion. Otherwise everybody could easily go off on their own tangents so to speak and scatter the discussion anywhere.

Steve

[sarcasm] If this happens just out of Havana bay, then the British declare war on Spain due to this obviously being an act of Spanish aggression, and incidentally hoover up their colonial empire in the process. [/sarcasm]

I'm interested by the possibility of Captain "I want to cause a diplomatic incident by abducting travellers on a neutral vessel in contravention of my own nation's policy as established in the War of 1812" Wilkes becoming a hero for picking up all the survivors.

robertp6165 said:

Based on Question #2, I am assuming that this happens before the ship in stopped by Captain Wilkes and the U.S.S. SAN JACINTO.

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You assume right. To be more precise, the boiler fire in this ATL happens about eight to ten hours before, in OTL, the Trent would have encountered the San Jacinto.